FAM I LY
There’s a lesson here … really! BY SIMCHA FISHER Freelance writer, the author of “The Sinner’s Guide to Natural Family Planning” and blogs at SimchaFisher.com.
Feeding the birds with children T
he first time I took my kids out to hand-feed wild birds, it didn’t go well. I had hit upon the activity out of desperation at the beginning of spring vacation. The kids were so bored, but I had COVID and was much too tired and contagious for outings. We had long since exhausted the charms of reading books via FaceTime, with and without silly filters, and even the kids were tired of TV. But maybe we could feed the birds together! We could sit in chairs, safely distanced, enjoying nature, being quiet, doing something wholesome and memorable, and did I mention being quiet? It didn’t go so well. But that was OK. It was pleasant enough just being outside, and I’m a firm believer in the value of unstructured, unplugged time for kids. We thought we might get a nibble or two, but you really do have to be quiet to attract birds, and my youngest is made out of monkeys. The first few times she squirmed or chattered, I fondly and gently shushed her. But I recalled that our goal was to have a nice time together, so before long I released her, and we dispersed without having fed or even seen a single bird. We agreed it was fun, though, or at least potentially fun. Apparently you really can train birds to get to know you. I talked about our attempt on social media, and people shared photos and videos of their kids’ success in making friends with these wild creatures. The idea began to take hold. I started to see hand-feeding wild birds as the ideal summer activity. By the end of vacation, I thought, this is how we would greet every morning: We would step into the backyard with a handful of seed, and our feathered ›
CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | JUNE 2022
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